Football team possesses a nice finishing touch

Warriors blank Bedford, 13-0, to end two-game losing streak

Published in the November 7, 2016 edition.

By JIM SOUTHMAYD

BEDFORD — Now, this was the kind of matchup the MIAA had in mind when it scheduled the non-playoff football games.

The Wakefield Memorial High football team took on Bedford in what was an evenly matched contest on Friday night at Sabourin Field. However the Warriors had more of a finishing touch as they pulled out a 13-0 victory over the Buccaneers.

Wakefield snapped a two-game losing streak with the win as it increased its record to 5-4 overall on the season. The game was quite a contrast to the one-sided defeats it suffered against Winchester and Danvers.

The Warriors will host Gloucester this Friday night at 7 p.m. at Landrigan Field in the next round of non-playoff games.

Bedford, meanwhile, fell to 5-3 on the season as it suffered its second straight defeat. The Buccaneers will travel to Wilmington this week for a non-playoff game.

The two defenses ruled the night as neither team could consistently sustain drives. Wakefield outgained Bedford in total yards, 255-203. But Wakefield also won the turnover battle, 5-3, as it intercepted Buccaneer QB Cam Shelmire four times in the contest.

Meanwhile, sophomore QB Mike Lucey completed nine out of 19 passes for 83 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The lone pick came on a Hail Mary pass on the final play of the first half.

Wakefield was able to gain 172 yards on the ground with senior RB Joe Marinaccio leading the way with 81 yards on six carries with one TD which was a 50 yard jaunt in the second quarter. The senior also caught a 16 yard TD pass in the fourth quarter which gave the Warriors some breathing room.

“Bedford has won the Dual County League title or at least a share of it and we knew they would be a tough team,” said Coach Steve Cummings. “Their running back is very good and they’re a big, tough team. Bedford was 5-2 headed into tonight and we wanted to play a good football team. Playing good teams is what helps you get better.

“Our defense picked us up,” added Cummings. “It’s tough to run against our defense and we also picked up on some tendencies. So it was tough for them to pound the ball against us. They threw the ball against us more than I expected. We had two new safeties playing and they might have wanted to take advantage of that. We made the tackles when we had to and we were able to force some turnovers.”

Wakefield was without senior DB Alex McKenna and moved safety Pat Leary, a senior, to cornerback. That left some inexperience in the middle of the defensive backfield. However the Warrior replacements held their own.

The Warrior defense held senior standout running back Jake Eliason to 14 yards on 12 carries. In fact, Wakefield held Bedford to just 56 net yards rushing on 26 carries.

In the air, Shelmire, a senior, completed eight out of 27 passes for 147 yards. Shelmire was intercepted four times with Marinaccio, junior Ryan Fitzpatrick, junior Brendan Coughlin and junior Jack Shannon each getting a pick.

Marinaccio also led Wakefield in tackles with nine, while senior LB PJ Iannuzzi was next with seven stops.

Bedford got the ball first and earned one first down on a 13 yard reception by junior WR Toby Hart. But the drive stalled at the Warrior 41 and the Buccaneers punted the ball away.

Senior RB Will Shea (48 yards on 15 carries) gained a yard and Iannuzzi (42 yards on eight carries) rushed for five yards. But an incompletion on third down resulted in Wakefield punting the ball away.

However senior Tur Woods fumbled the punt by Leary and junior Marc Biennestin recovered the fumble as Wakefield had the ball at the Bedford 49. After an offside by the Buccaneers, Shea gained four yards for a first down at the Bedford 36. But after Shea lost two yards on first down, Lucey had a pair of incompletions as Wakefield punted the ball away and pinned the Buccaneers deep in their own end of the field.

Bedford started at its own 12, but after a six yard gain by Eliason and a 29 yard reception by junior WR Tim Regan, the Buccaneers moved the ball out to their own 47. Eliason gained three yards, Wood ran for three yards and Eliason got another three yard gain setting up a fourth down and one at the Warrior 44 as the first quarter ended. Eliason was stopped by senior LB Carmen Sorrentino for no gain on the first play of the second quarter as Wakefield took over on downs at its own 44.

Lucey was sacked by Nick Pugliello for a four yard loss on first down and Marinaccio lost two yards on a screen pass setting up a third down and 16 play. Lucey had an incompletion as the Warriors punted the ball away.

Bedford was unable pick up a first down and punted the ball away from its own 42. However Fitzpatrick fumbled on the kick as Woods recovered the loose ball at the Wakefield 34.

Logan Brust (24 yards on six carries) gained six yards, Eliason gained three yards, and Brust rushed for four yards and a first down at the Warrior 21. But Woods lost three yards on first down and Eliason lost a yard on second down to force the Buccaneers into long yardage for third and fourth downs. Shelmire had two incompletions as the Warriors took over at their own 25 with 3:54 left in the second quarter.

Shea gained five yards on first down. However on second down a bad snap resulted in Lucey recovering the loose ball for an eight yard loss. The sophomore then kept the ball himself on a third down and 13 play and ran for 14 yards to move the chains.

Fitzpatrick caught a five yard pass and Marinaccio gained two yards on second down. Fitzpatrick then hauled in a seven yard completion for a first down at the 50 yard line. That’s when Wakefield broke the the big play as Marinaccio took the handoff and broke to the right side. He eluded a couple of defenders on his way down the right sideline for the 50 yard TD.

Iannuzzi added the extra point to give the Warriors a 7-0 lead with 1:18 left in the first half.

Bedford completed a 42 yard pass on the first play from its own 40 as Shelmire found Cam Sheppard down the left side line which brought the ball to the Wakefield 18 before Sheppard was tackled by Fitzpatrick. The Warrior defense held, however, as Shelmire had two incompletions with a two yard gain by Brust in between. On fourth down Bedford went to his bag of tricks and Woods attempted a halfback option pass which was too long as the Warriors took over at their own 16 with 44.6 seconds left.

Marinaccio gained eight yards and then caught a nine yard pass. However a spot holding penalty pushed the ball back to the Bedford 24. Sorrentino caught a 23 pass to move the ball to the Wakefield 46. Lucey attempted a deep pass on the final play of the first half which fell incomplete. However a personal foul penalty gave Wakefield one more untimed down from the Buccaneer 39. Lucey heaved toward the end zone but Ryan Lobo made a diving interception at the 5 yard line to end the first half with Wakefield in front, 7-0.

The Warriors got the ball to start the second half and had two penalties on their first two plays with a procedure and a holding call. That resulted in long yardage and Wakefield punted the ball away.

Bedford began its first possession of the second half at its own 31 and it failed to move the chains as Shelmire was stopped for no gain on a third down and one play by Joe Connell.

Wakefield took over at its own 39 after the Shemire punt. Iannuzzi gained 14 yards on first down. After a false start penalty, Coughlin caught a seven pass and Iannuzzi ran for 11 yards and first down at the Buccaneer 34. Shea gained eight yards and 15 more yards were marched off for a personal foul penalty on Bedford as the ball was moved to the 11 yard line. But Shea lost two yards on first down. Marinaccio gained four yards on second down and Iannuzzi was stopped for no gain on third down.

Wakefield elected to attempt a 25 yard field goal, but Iannuzzi’s kick was blocked by Puglielli as the Buccaneers took over at their own nine yard line. The home team gained five yards on third down and punted the ball away from its 14 yard line.

The Warriors went three and out and punted the ball away from the Bedford 45 on the second play run in the fourth quarter. Leary got off a 44 yard kick which Wakefield downed at the 1 yard line.

After a pair of incompletions by Shelmire, the Buccaneer QB was picked off on third down by Fitzpatrick at the Bedford 32 returned to the nine yard line. Iannuzzi gained five yards on first and goal but lost a yard on second down. Lucey had a pair of incompletions on third and fourth down as Bedford took over at its own 5.

“Offensively I would’ve liked us to have been a little sharper,” said Cummings. “We had some penalties and some little breakdowns. We let them hang around until that last touchdown. Our defense rallied and picked us up this week.”

Eliason lost four yards on first down as the Warriors nearly recorded a safety. The senior RB got the four yards back on second down, but Bedford eventually punted the ball away as Wakefield took over at the Buccaneer 41 as the field position battle was easily in Wakefield’s favor the entire second half.

Shea gained two yards then Marinaccio broke a 17 yard gain to the 22. But on the next play, Iannuzzi fumbled the football as Eliason recovered at the Bedford 15. Three plays later, Shelmire was intercepted by Coughlin at the 25 and the return was to the Bedford 15 where the Warriors took over.

After a pair of two yards gains by Shea, a false start penalty pushed Wakefield back to the 16. After an incompletion on third down, Lucey found Marinaccio in the left corner of the end zone with a TD strike on a fourth down and 11 play. The sophomore QB released the pass right before he was hit after rolling out to his left.

A bad snap on the PAT attempt resulted in the rush for two points being no good as Wakefield led 13-0 with 3:01 left in the game.

Bedford got some life after a 26 yard return by Eliason as Bedford had the ball at its own 46. Woods caught a 10 yard pass, Sheppard caught a 20 yard pass and Hart had a 14 yard reception as the Buccaneers had a first down and goal from the Wakefield 10 yard line. But on the next play Marinaccio intercepted a pass at the 5 yard line as the Warriors took over deep in their own end.

Wakefield got one first down on a 14 yard run, but eventually punted the ball back to Bedford which took over at its own 36 with 1:17 remaining. Shelmire found Regan with a 19 yard pass to bring the ball to the Warrior 40. But on second down and 10, Shelmire heaved one up for the end zone. Shannon intercepted the ball at the 1 and returned it 20 yards.

The Warriors got in their victory formation and Lucey took a knee to run out the clock as Wakefield celebrated its fifth win of the season.